Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many applicants were (a) long-listed, (b) shortlisted and (c) interviewed for the position of Chair of the Social Mobility Commission; how many people and who were on the panels to decide on the (i) long-list, (ii) shortlist and (iii) list of interviewees for that position; how many stages of interview took place for that position; and who interviewed the applicants in those interviews.

The department received 21 applications for the role of Chair of the Social Mobility Commission. Four of these applicants were shortlisted and three of the shortlisted applicant were interviewed after one applicant withdrew.

The shortlisting and interviews were undertaken by Emran Mian (Director of Social Mobility and Strategy at the Department for Education), Nick Markham (lead non-executive director at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) and Ruby McGregor Smith (non-executive board member at the Department for Education). Both the shortlisting and interview process were carried out in line with guidance from the Centre of Public Appointments.

One stage of interviews took place for the position and the panel recommended Martina Milburn as an appointable candidate. The government was pleased to announce her as their preferred candidate. The process to appoint a Chair of the Social Mobility Commission was run in accordance with advice from the Cabinet Office and the Department for Education’s Public Appointments team and it was fully in line with the Governance Code on Public Appointments.